Happily Never After
by JereduLevenin
Summary: What if Sora could not bring himself to fight Riku in Hollow Bastion? What if Sora never won that fight? What if Ansem let Riku free to suffer the aftermath? OneShot. [Deathfic] [RikuSora]


"There's no way you're taking Kairi's heart!!"

Sora shoved Riku's keyblade away from him with the strength born of desperation. How could this all be happening? Ansem was supposed to be a good guy! And now Riku was…

"Ha!" Riku was suddenly THERE. Sora gasped and brought his keyblade up to block at the last second. He grunted as the force of the blow vibrated painfully up his arms. He had to protect Kairi from Ansem… but he couldn't bring himself to hurt Riku, either. He schooled his expression into stubborn defiance. He would bring the REAL Riku out if it was the last thing he did. Though, the way things were looking now, it was pretty likely that it WOULD be the last thing he did… He dodged another blow. Riku was fast.

"Riku! I know you're in there! You have to fight him! You wouldn't hurt me… right?" You love me, right? That's what you said. And I told you the same. You wouldn't hurt me. You couldn't hurt me. Sora desperately blocked as Riku unleashed a solid wall of offensive attacks.

Riku just laughed. He suddenly vanished. Sora looked around frantically, trying to spot the other boy.

"Behind you!" Sora spun around, bringing up his keyblade to block… a fraction of a second too late. He screamed as Riku's blade bit into his arm, sending a fine crimson spray into the air. He dodged left and knocked Riku's blade away from himself. Riku had been prepared for that, and spun his body with the blade, coming back around to draw another fine crimson line down Sora's arm. The cut was shallow, but the force of the blow knocked Sora onto his back.

"Don't move, and I'll make this as painless as possible."

Sora grunted and kicked out at Riku, aiming for the dripping blade in his hand. Riku smirked and sidestepped the move. He shifted suddenly and stomped down hard on Sora's leg. Sora yelped in pain.

"I told you to hold still."

Sora struggled, bringing up the other foot to try to get Riku off of him, but Riku jabbed his blade into the leg beneath his foot.

"Don't make me hurt you more than I have to, Sora. It really isn't doing you any good. I'm not enjoying it. You're not enjoying it. Might as well cooperate, yes?"

Sora whimpered in confusion. Riku should have been able to shove this guy out of him. Riku was the strongest person he knew. Why had he let this guy take over?

Sora concentrated and summoned the keyblade to his hand. Riku blinked in surprise as Sora swung, knocking Riku's legs out from under him. Sora got up and ran, as well as he could, to the other side of the little arena Riku had created. Riku smirked and picked up his blade. Sora used the brief respite to dig around in his pocket for a potion. Riku raised his blade.

"I learned a new trick, Sora."

He threw his blade.

---

Riku felt as if he were trapped behind glass walls as he watched his body being controlled like a puppet.

Sora! He tried to scream. Run, look out! Don't worry about me!

He fought against the walls of his prison. They refused to give. He crumpled as he saw the look in Sora's eyes… Fear. Betrayal. Confusion. And tears. Why, oh WHY wouldn't Sora fight back?! Why wouldn't he do anything but block?

Riku screamed as Ansem hurled the dark keyblade at Sora. Time slowed down. He felt a sudden surge of strength, and he gave the glass walls an almighty shove. They shattered. For a single instant, his eyes met with Sora's as he reached out to try to do the impossible. He tried to stop the blade hurtling towards Sora. His hand closed around the hilt just as it buried itself in Sora's chest. For a full ten seconds, he locked eyes with his lover, mute with horror. Sora's troubled expression softened as he realized that he had succeeded. Riku was back to himself again. Riku finally let out a strangled sob. "Sora!! I-I didn-"

"R… Ri-ku…" Sora gurgled softly. "You're… b-…b-…back. …Good…" He sighed as his eyes slid shut. He fell forward into Riku's arms, keyblade falling to the ground and vanishing. Riku pulled the dark blade out of Sora's ruined chest and tossed it to the ground.

"NO! Don't leave me! SORA!!!" Riku screamed, falling to the ground and cradling Sora protectively. Sora shifted slightly, lungs rattling brokenly. Red bubbled up at the corner of his mouth. His hand clutched weakly at Riku's shoulder.

"N-not… goin'… 'nywhere." Sora's heart began to flutter weakly. It glowed, releasing the captive hearts. Sora's own heart was too far injured to leave. "L-love… y…you." Riku cradled Sora's head to his chest, shaking uncontrollably. His tears began to fall unnoticed. "I know, Sora… I know. I love you too…" He moaned and choked back a sob. Sora tightened his grip on Riku. Sora gasped, or tried to as a wave of agony swept over him. He gurgled softly for a second, broken lungs rattling, then fell silent as he finally gave up on trying to breathe. It just hurt too much. Riku stroked his hair. Sora felt a numbness finally seep through him, and the pain stopped. His eyes slid half shut as his heartbeat slowed, then stopped. Sora smiled warmly for one instant, then his face slacked as the light in his eyes died. Riku let out a sob.

"S-Sora… You weren't supposed to lose."

He planted a chaste kiss on Sora's cold, unresponsive lips, then slid those brilliant eyes shut. He crumpled around the body and let out a steady, despairing keen. His light… His light was gone. How could he escape the darkness without his Light? What hope did the worlds have now?

Riku wept.

Owari.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


End file.
